How to Know If You’re Ready to Start Building Your App

Do You Have the Time and the Money

Before any serious endeavor, it’s important to count the cost before you make the commitment. Everyone has the next best app idea, but to actually build it and bring it to market, it’s important to be realistic about what it’s going to cost you. At the end of the day, even a simple app or website is going to cost you at least $30,000 and likely closer to $50,000. Do you have the funding? Are you self-funding? Are you prepared to spend that much money?

It’s also going to take time, no less than three months, and you’re probably looking at more like six to build something from scratch. Some of the projects we’ve worked on, have been ongoing for years. That may not be your scenario, but it’s important to be realistic about the time commitment and the cost.

Open to Discovery

An important phase of any software project is what we call “discovery”. It’s basically the process by which we narrow down what your vision is. For those who have built software before, this may come naturally from having asked and answered these types of questions throughout other projects. If you already know exactly what you want, great! But if your idea consists of little more of your elevator pitch, then we really can help guide you through that process of refining and defining what your software needs to be. We have decades of experience building software and we can help you enhance your original idea.

Product Ownership

We want you to be successful. Your success is our success. When we provide guidance through discovery and development, we do it in good faith. But at the end of the day, when a decision needs to be made, that decision will lie at your door. Because it’s your product. It’s your project. It’s your piece of software that you will fully own and take into the world. You will be ready to start building your app when you are ready to take ownership of those key decisions, when you’re ready to make a decision.

Ready to Trust Your Team

Do your research. Take a look at apps we or any other development firm has built. Meet some of the team. But once you pick a development team, be ready to trust them. You’ve hired these experts for a reason! If you’re integrating external team members with an existing team, it’s even more important to set the tone. While you certainly don’t have to take all the suggestions made, you should be willing to listen and consider the advice presented. Many good projects can be derailed by petty politics and internal friction. Good solutions can be disregarded because of biases. So be prepared and prepare your existing team with good faith and a positive attitude, because we promise you our good faith too!

Strong Communication

Where does communication not come into play? With software, we have to be able to communicate clearly about many technical details. Setting aside the time to communicate with us, whether that be via email, chat, phone or video conferencing, is extremely important. We use agile methodology to plan and execute nearly all of our projects, which allows us to make dynamic changes to the app as needed. It also means we may need your approval or input throughout the development process. So be ready to communicate well and consistently with your team!